Old Colony Voc-Tech ready to move ahead with $2.5 million renovation

Monday

Feb 11, 2013 at 12:01 AMFeb 11, 2013 at 2:28 PM

ROCHESTER — Old Colony Regional Vocational-Technical High School District officials are ready to find a contractor for the $2.5 million renovation of the school roof and science lab now that the state has approved reimbursing more than 50 percent of the costs.

MICHAEL J. DeCICCO

ROCHESTER — Old Colony Regional Vocational-Technical High School District officials are ready to find a contractor for the $2.5 million renovation of the school roof and science lab now that the state has approved reimbursing more than 50 percent of the costs.

"We are going out to bid now so that the work can be complete by the summer or late summer," Old Colony Superintendent Gary Brown said. "I've been working on this for some time so I feel great. I'm happy we will be able to get all this work done."

The Massachusetts School Building Authority recently approved the project's schematic design and will now enter into a project funding agreement with the district, which will detail the scope and budget and conditions for the MSBA grant.

That grant will reimburse 54.16 percent, or approximately $1.4 million of the cost to replace the existing roof with a new polyvinyl chloride fully adhered membrane roof and to modernize a school science lab.

Brown said the roof will be replaced with one that will last another 25 to 30 years and comply with current heat retention standards. The building's original 1975 roof was replaced in 1987 with then state-of-the-art rubber membrane material. Since then, the district has upgraded and brought up to warranty standards one section of the roof at a time to avoid having to go out to borrowing bonds for the work.

The HVAC system on the roof was upgraded two years ago.

"This time we're getting the funding we need," Brown said.

He said the science lab has not been upgraded at all since the school's 1975 opening. "Everything in it is antiquated, except the students," he said. "The work will include putting in new lighting. Now it is just a dismal place to be."

All five Old Colony member towns have approved the project at their respective town meetings. All that's left to do is the reconstruction work itself.

"I expect it to be done by the end of the summer," Brown said. "When students come back in the fall, we will have a whole new roof and a refurbished science lab."